Old Parsonage Hotel

Oh dear!
We get to Oxford several times a year and stay at the Old Parsonage. We haven’t for a while because it was closed for refurbishment. We just returned from a visit, our first since refurbishment. What a disappointment!
Firstly, the food is still excellent and the staff super! But however good it is, their charge for a full English breakfast is just silly. They did build a very nice library with outdoor reading tables. A very nice improvement.
The warm, cheerful ambiance is gone. Totally. The friendly, cheerful, upbeat dining room and lobby is now battleship gray. Yes, they did away with the wonderful old Russian Red! It is really depressing. Moreover, the entire hotel is gray, although the corridors and rooms are a lighter shade.
The rooms have problems. The showers are bathtub showers which is perfectly OK but they put in new tubs that have very high sides. The tubs are slippery and have no anti-​skid mats. Worse, there are no grab bars whatsoever. It was pretty risky to take a shower! The toilet was difficult to operate and the bathroom waste container was so small it was useless.
We had a suite and the place was wired so that we never figured out how to turn on just one light. There were two desks but one was inaccessible. The night table was so close to the desk that we couldn’t get to it. There were no luggage racks so we had to use the other desk. I know the rooms are small and have no complaint — the building is very old but in order to give the rooms a more open appearance all the chairs are spindly things, sort of like those in a dentist’s waiting room. There wasn’t a single upholstered easy chair! Nor was there a decent reading lamp. Nor could we figure out how to turn it on with the other lights turned off and didn’t want to sit in one of those dentist’s office chairs to read. And the walls were gray. Closet space was inadequate. I think the decorators ruined this place. One leaves a light gray room to go into a light gray corridor to the dark gray dining room and dark gray lobby. It looks nothing like the cheery picture shown below.
There is another safety issue. They removed the staircase bannisters and put in some shallow rails that blend into the walls so one can’t grasp them.
We are very ambivalent and may not come back. So many Oxford days are dull and gloomy we needn’t spend a lot of money to go to a grayer hotel and be uncomfortable to boot!

(Reviewing for dinner only, not hotel, tea, etc.)
Good overall, but not great. Nice atmosphere, under-​cooked (slightly bland) risotto, pretty good skate, skip dessert. I can see how this restaurant would be rated well compared to other Oxford restaurants, but it’s just OK compared to restaurants more broadly.

My new favorite hotel in Oxford. Wonderful old world charm, brilliant waitstaff. Euro sized rooms are very well accommodated. Dining and lounge area is very cozy with original art. Preferred over The Malmaisson and Randolph.
Parking on site for 9 or so. Public parking with 2 blocks for 2.50 after 6 pm.
Short walk to downtown and out of city center which simplifies access to the motorway.

Reviewing only for the Afternoon Tea.
Recommendation: Take your high tea here.
I had afternoon tea only once the entire time I was in the UK, and this experience was well worth the 20 pounds or so spent [for two]. The waitstaff is incredibly courteous and efficient. My friend and I ordered the «Very high tea» which was a selection of finger sandwiches, cakes, scones with clotted cream and jam and a tea. We ordered an additional tea and simply split the food. The foods were all fresh, the presentation quite lovely, and the ambiance very fitting for afternoon tea. [We sat inside] They do have outdoor seating out front btw.

Recently, I came here with my great aunt and mom for champagne tea.
The dining area is cozy with paintings filling the red walls. You feel like you are sitting in someone’s parlor not a restaurant.
We started with a glass of champagne which was fab. It was followed by English breakfast tea and a 3 tiered platter of scones, tea sandwiches, and mini cakes. My favorite party was the scones with the clotted cream and raspberry jam but everything was delicious.
I would recommend reservations, it was completely full on a Saturday afternoon.

Lovely. Cosy ‘old world’ décor and their high tea (including their signature blended tea) is very British… thick clotted cream, sweet home-​made jam, and of course, fluffy one-isn’t-enough scones. It’s also a lovely spot in Oxford to pop into for a drink (or weather permitting a Pims on their private walled patio).